Triggered: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Imagine the worst thing in the world. Picture it. Construct it,
carefully and deliberately, in your mind. Be careful not to omit anything.
Imagine it happening to you, to the people you love. Imagine the worst
thing in the world.

Now try not to think about it.

This is what life is like for Fletcher Wortmann. Triggered takes
us on an intimate journey across the psychological landscape of OCD,
known as the “doubting disorder,” as populated by God,
girls, and apocalyptic nightmares. Wortmann unflinchingly reveals the
elaborate series of psychological rituals he constructs as preventative
measures to ward off the end times, as well as his learning to cope
with intrusive thoughts through Clockwork Orange-like “trigger” therapy.

A kaleidoscope of culture high and low unfolds, ranging from Wortmann’s
obsessions with David Bowie, X-Men, and Pokemon, to an eclectic education
shaped by Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, Catholic mysticism, Christian
comic books, and the collegiate dating scene at the “People’s
Republic of Swarthmore.”